Work resumes on Slidell master plan

Work to create a master plan for Slidell has resumed following a two-year hiatus, and city leaders want to make one thing clear -- residents have the chance to help shape the city's future, and they shouldn't let it go to waste.

Martin Bruno, the city's planning director, told a crowd gathered Wednesday to hear an update on the master plan that the plan belongs to the residents, and they should tell the planners what they want to see in their neighborhoods and the city as a whole. He urged those in attendance to let their voices be heard, then let the planners do the work.

Mayor Ben Morris echoed that sentiment, saying he and the City Council plan to step back to allow residents to guide the master plan's development. He said those who don't come to the meetings to speak their minds won't be able to complain that they didn't have a say once the plan is finished.

Representatives from Urban Systems Associates and Villavaso & Associates are preparing the master plan, work on which began more than four years ago. The project team submitted the plan's first phase to the city in April 2005, but work ceased in the months following Hurricane Katrina as the city diverted the funding necessary to complete the plan's next phase for recovery efforts instead.

The City Council included $108,000 for the plan in this year's budget, allowing the project to move forward. Wednesday's meeting marked the first step since Katrina toward putting the plan on paper, and the team hopes to complete the second phase by next June.